Holiday Press 2014

Who Makes This Blog?

ARTIST PROFILE | Not one to toot my own horn too much (even though I played a mean trumpet long ago in high school band), the recent interview by Darian Glover of The Tree Topper blog got me to talking about what makes this blog tick. If you've always been curious about the method behind the madness, here's what drives The Decorated Tree.

King of the Forest?

KUDOS FROM MATTHEW | Matthew Mead , noted style expert with his own inspiring holiday titles , which I've been lucky enough to be included in two years in a row (2012 and 2013), highlights my top ten trees on his beautiful blog while creating a new moniker for me: King of the Forest. Think it fits? Check out the post on my top ten trees here .

The Decorated Tree's first tree: The Alpine Feather Tree now here!

NEW WINTRY TRADITION | Introducing The Decorated Tree's Alpine Feather Tree, now available for purchase! Two versions of this heirloom-quality goose feather tree are handmade stateside by Dennis Bauer for Hometraditions.com. Have a gander at all the many feather and tinsel options on the Hometraditions site here, Order yours now, as each tree is made as orders arrive. See it decorated in this post.

BLURB.COM STAFF PICK | The Decorated Tree book gets decorated! Click the cover below to peruse a thumbnail of the whole book!

Buy Your Copy Today!

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t.d.t. recommends

ALL THROUGH THE HOUSE | Matthew's newest holiday bookazine is available now and The Decorated Tree's Alpine Feather Tree makes its decorated debut within its pages! Matthew Mead is a stylist, writer, author, photographer, lifestyle editor, and noted style expert. You can also find an abbreviated magazine version on newsstands everywhere, but t.d.t. recommends buying the expanded bookazine on Amazon.com .

Ornament Finds

STOCKING FEAT | My friend David Schump is a consummate folk artist who creates these tramp art stocking ornaments paying homage to the age-old tradition. They are stained and washed with metallic gold and hung with antique German tinsel garland with care. A vintage Dresden star at the top completes it. This is a limited edition of 12 pieces, so hurry and get yours. Available through his website The Art Tramp, alongside other beautiful masterpieces. Be sure to poke around his site for other wonderful handmade gifts made from the heart.

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VINTAGE GLAMOUR | For the person who means the world to you, Eliot Raffit creates this beautiful vintage globe, now in four color schemes (original, ivory, noir and sage). With the fine craftsmanship of European workrooms, his collectible ornaments are created to last for generations to come. Using the finest glass glitter, beading, metallic threads and chains, his ornaments include snowflakes, globes, hearts, and more. Each ornament is tied with double-faced Italian satin ribbon, ready for hanging. Available in stores at Bergdorf Goodman, Barneys New York, and Saks Fifth Avenue. Available online at Eliot Raffit's website.

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HEARTMAN | Tintown in South Africa makes delightfully well-designed "hanging decorations" that will bring a smile to anyone's face this holiday season. If you bend over backward for love's song, this is the one for you. Poke around their website for lots of wonderful creations, but you'll find your very own "Heartman" here.

click below to go home

t.d.t. picks:

THE GIVING TREE | I recently rediscovered this book a thoughtful friend gave me a few years back. Author Shel Silverstein's poignant tome about the life-long relationship we all have with trees is a classic parable of the selfish versus selfless choices we all make throughout our lives—a true classic, first published in 1964 (Harper Collins).

LIVES OF THE TREES | Diana Wells, author of Lives of the Trees has written an uncommon history of 100 types of trees. It's fascinating reading that writes our long history and sometimes unusual connections with our most stately earthly friends (Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill).

THE TREE SHOW | "Arcadian Gothic" artist Mark Ryden's fascinating exploration of the arboreal world is layered with references ranging from Renaissance landscape and Neoclassical portraiture to pop-culture kitsch. Several of his paintings are finished with elaborately-carved wood frames that extend the narrative beyond the canvas. "The Tree Show" series of art is reproduced alongside Ryden's meticulous research on the tree as myth. This book is available here on Amazon.com and a Special Edition Exhibition Book is available at Porterhouse Fine Art Editions, Inc..

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PAPERIE PANACHE | My friend Gia (a.k.a. Betsy White) has a scrumptious line of cards, invitations and such. Click to her site for this valentine and poke around for more! And be sure to check out her gorgeous blog: Flights of Fancy.

Tuesday, September 27, 2011

"Something has changed within me. Something is not the same. I'm through with playing by the rules of someone else's game."

—ELPHABA THROPP from WICKED (the musical)

I'VE SUMMONED Halloween a bit early this year. This time, I came upon a witch's hat (or two, or seven) and a cat that must have cast their spell on me, which led me to see this tree. Something wicked you say? Maybe so, but there's a certain elegance in these going's on. The witch responsible for guiding my Halloween spirit this year is quite a sophisticated one—not satisfied with the typical orange and black of All Hallows Eve.

INSTEAD,
this witch has an eye (or two, or nine) on the lookout for a holiday
tree that is decorated her way. I'm not responsible. It was out of my
control. I think a little magic has happened. Elphaba Thropp, the name
of the witch I have mentioned, is surely responsible. She's the daughter
of the Wizard of Oz according to Gregory Maguire, who wrote the
fictional account of her life in Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West. The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (L. Frank Baum's book) was
Maguire's inspiration. As a homage, Maguire used Baum's initials
(L.F.B.), phonetically pronounced to form Elphaba's name. Get it?
El-Pha-Ba. You may have heard of both of these authors, but didn't know
much more than that. "So much happened before Dorothy dropped in . . ."

I WON'T SPOIL the story, but Gregory Maguire named Elphaba's book of spells a Grimmerie. The author goes on to say "I conjured up the word Grimmerie to prompt associations of several things at once: of the Brother's Grimm, with their tales of magic and witches and forests; of grimmness itself. But also I meant slyly to echo the archaic word gramarye. The Oxford English Dictionary defines gramarye as 'occult learning, magic, necromancy.' There is a solid philological relationship to the Scottish word glamour—the casting of a spell over the eyes of a spectator . . . "

ACCORDING TO the historiographical highlights in the Grimmerie, "Elphaba's origins are shrouded in mystery, but we do know her mother received a strange visitor before she was born. At Shiz University, Elphaba was a brilliant student with magical gifts that she tried to hide. Because of her green skin, the students, including her roommate Galinda, shunned her. Elphaba's momentous meeting with the Wizard in the Emerald City set her on the fateful path whereby she became Wicked."

SO THERE you have it. A watchful Halloween tree that has Elphaba's signature style. I am glad to be here to show you the results and to assist Elphaba in casting her spell. And I'm grateful for her guidance—which may very well have been her last good deed.

WICKED ELEGANCE | (Top two photos) This tree could have gone in a Seussian direction with an inspiration that started with a hat and then a cat, but I realized quickly that something else was at play. A bit of magic led me to find these witches hats (at Michaels, tucked away in a display of frames and meant to be placecard holders). And the cat appeared to me on a clearance shelf at Ross. All nine of those eyes were watching me at Pier 1 Imports. Odd numbers of each are the rule-of-the-day for a pleasing composition. The large book in the photo is The Grimmerie, a behind-the-scenes look at the hit Broadway musical "Wicked"—a gift from my friend Jon Chavez. It is beautifully-designed to look old by Headcase Design, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 2005 (a spread from the Grimmerie is seen below).

MAGICAL DETAILS | The right balance was struck with a wire tree—made as craggy as can be’— coated with black glitter and beads, was found at Marshall's and decorated with the witches hats and the eyeball ornaments mentioned above. Added to the spirited mix is a smoky small glass beaded garland from Restoration Hardware, small glass ornaments in green and dark brown from Michael's and fancy glass clip-on candles from the "vintage" 2004 Golden Traditions line by Martha Stewart at Kmart. It's all contained in a heavy stoneware cauldron with smooth black river rocks.

MILLINER'S MAGIC | This flocked witch's hat from Michaels is deftly striped in green glitter and is topped with a spiraled wire meant to be used as a placecard holder at the dinner table (see below), but I first saw them as elegant ornaments.

CANDLE CHARM | These clip-on glass candles—which are historically associated as a decorations for German feather trees were put to good use to set the mood. They are from the "vintage" 2004 Golden Traditions line by Martha Stewart at Kmart. I purposely centered this particular "flame" in the door's circular details to give a certain importance to it as a "tree topper" (the door was a discarded find, painted Bedford Grey from Martha Stewart's line of paints at Home Depot).

DRAFTY DODGER | This faux bois beeswax candle, mysteriously flamed out, is from the defunct Martha by Mail catalog. The metal candle snuffer from my collection stands guard. The beaded placemat is from the 2011 Halloween collection at Target. Two of Elphaba's spellbinding books (including the Grimmerie shown in detail above) are always at-the-ready.

TABLE FOR ONE | Since the mysteriously elegant Elphaba was shunned by her peers, she often dined alone, but with a great sense of style. The place setting is composed of a dinner plate, a salad plate and a napkin from Pier 1 Imports. The black dessert plate is from Target. The flatware pattern (that looks like unfurling fern fronds) is "Treble Clef" by Gourmet Settings.The silver-rimmed crystal water goblet and wine glass are from the defunct Martha by Mail catalog. The beaded placemat is from the 2011 Halloween collection at Target. Here the witches hat from Michaels is used as it was originally intended as a placecard holder. I made the placecard from a faux bois printed gift card by Martha Stewart Crafts by adding a brown satin ribbon through the perforations. Stick-on scrapbooking letters spell out Elphaba's name on the ribbon. The small bouquet is composed of a probable witch's brew of delphinium, rosehips, hosta and a thorny stem of a trailing rosebush.The tarnished hotel silver bud vase containing it is from my personal collection.